Gab-door mechanism



Jan. 27, -B W KADEL CAR DOOR MECHANISM Filed Oct. '7, 1927 YPatented Jan. 27, 1931 BYERS w. izADEL, oFBALTIMonE, MARYLAND PATENT OFFICE i cnn-noon MiiorrAmsM Y Application led October 7, 1927.Y Serial No. 224,579.

My invention relates to car door mechanism for retaining in closed position ahinged door which is adapted to swing to' open position under the influenceof'gravity to kpermit the lading of acar'to bedischarged. v A principal object of the invention is to provide, in

conjunction with suitable .door lockingV mechanism, strong, simple and efficient means for forcing the door "to" closed posilotion. I. j A principalV feature of my invention consists in providing, in combination :with a hingedf door adapted toj swing transversely of the car to open position under the in- 515 iiuence of gravity, `a plurality of members carried by the door'and extending beyond an edge thereof, .hooks cooperab-le with the members foi-maintaining the doorin closed "position, andmeans associated with the said '20 hooks affording a plurality of fulcrum points 'for a removable lever thereby enabling-the `application of a prying forcez to the door adj acent each of the hooksn Another feature of the invention resides 5125 in combining with a pivoted dumppcar door Y havingits hinge axisdisposedlongitudinally of the car, a plurality of devices Vspaced along the edge ofthe door remote from 'its hinge axis for supporting it in;closed position, each of'said devices involving an arm secured to the door, a pivoted hook'carried by a stationary part ofthe car, andl'a'bracket overlying the outer face of the hook, and means rigid 1 with said'bracket'constitutinga fulcrum for closed position. Y

A further feature of the invention consists in providing, in combination with a car hava removable leverforprying the door to ing a Hoor and a side sill extending below said floor, a hingeddoor, anda' plurality of means-for supporting said door in closed position, each of said means involving an arm vsecured to the door and projecting outwardly beyond the sidesill, ahook fpivotally Vmounted on thefside sill, and a bracket over- Y lying the outer face of said hook, a port-ionof said bracket depending below the side sill fand being providedwith means for accommodating a removable lever, the latter being adaptedfto prythe doorsto closed position.

'themajor portion of their respective vdoor ,arms by inclined portions 10. y Y

Other features and advantageous arrangements and combinations of parts will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the draw-ings, Figure 1 is a side eleva- K tional view of a portion of -a railway car 5`5 showing my invention as applied thereto.y

'Figure 2 is a fragmentary detail sectional view-taken on the line V2-2, Fig. 1. A

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig.` 1, but slhovlying -a modified: formof supporting eb oo f l Y Figure 4 is a sectional view7 similar to- F 2, showing Vtherelation of the door to :the f center sill of the car. Y Y s f The railwaycar chosen for the'purpose-of; 65' illustrating the invention is of the well known flat-bottom gondola type involving a sidewall 1, iioor 2, and side sill 3, the latter extending below the general level of the iioor andconstitutinga continuation of the sideV 7b wall. The floor4 2 is provided with an o ening to permit theV discharge of lading rom thecar, the-opening being normally closed by a door 4f which may advantageously be prfo- Y vided with straps 23 forreceivingV hinge 75 pintles 24;V VAs is usual in thisV ,type .of car, the hinge pintles-are disposed longitudinally of the car adjacent and 'substantially parallel to the center sill25 so asto enable the door-to p swing transversely of the car to'open position 8o under` thej -iniiuence of gravity. In the present 'instance the hinge `pintles are shown Vas fbeing carried bybrackets 26 rigidly Y are attached to the under side of the door 4, 9G f Vpreferably bybolts 8, so as toeXtend beyond the -edge of the doorremote from its hinge axis, each of the arms being preferably dis-f y posed normal ltothe said hinge axis andfto j thecar side.V Thejouter ends 9 of thedoor 95 armsr project underneath the side Asill and' terminate at a point outwardly thereof, the saidends being oset from and connected to Pivotally secured to the outer face of the side sill are :1.-pli11-ality of gravity actuated hooks or shouldered members 11 adapted to respectively engage with the outer projecting ends of the door arms to support and maintain the door in closed position. Each of the hooks illustrated in Fig. 1 is provided with two ledges or shoulders 12 and 13, the former for cooperating with the door arm to support the door in a partial or preliminary position of closure, `andvthe'latter'for cooperating with the arm to support the door in a full or iinal position of closure.

Overlying the outer face of each of the hooks and rigidly secured to the Vside sill, preferably by rivets 14C, is a bracket- 15. A pivoted cam 16 is interposed between the side sill and each of the brackets 15 Yfor 'engagement with the hook to lock the latter in door supporting position. Each of the hooks and cams is pivotallyl supported by pivotrivets or posts 17 and 18, respectively which extend through the brackets `15 .and sill 3.

iis is wellknown, it is-often very difficult to eff-ect a complete closure of these swinging dump doors. This is due to the-"fact that the doors become warpedv and 'distorted because of the service to which they are subjected and, `moreover, small pieces -of lading sometimes lodge in positions making complete closure of the doors a matter of: censiderable difficulty. It is, however, inall cases an easy matter to swing the door to a partially closed position such as it -would occupy when supported upon the preliminary ledges 12 of the pivoted hooks. `To effecta complete closure ofthe door from thisfposition it is necessary to afford eicientfmeans whereby additional force may be employed for moving the door. For/this purpose each of the brackets 15 is preferably integrally provided with an arm 19 depending below the side sill adjacent the pivoted hook'and ofiset outwardly from the adjacent face of the side sill. rlhe lower end of each of these arms is fashioned7 asY at 20, toafford a. yfulcrum for a removable lever '21 :which is adapted to engage with a portion of the door, such as the outerend 9 ofthe doorarm, whereby, when the lever is actuated, the dooris caused to move to fully closedposition.

Itwill be observed that by providing fulcrums on the brackets Vadjacent each of the pivotedhooks, a prying force may be applied to the door at the most advantageous points, and Vthat by permitting theinner end of the lever to seat against the outer ends 9 :if the door arms a particularly desirable result is accomplished, in that, should the ends of the door arms be accidentally bent or displaced downwardly out of their usual positions so that after the door has been moved to fully closed position the hooks willnot properly engage the door arms, the lever will, in its normal operation, force the door arms back into a position enabling the latter to be engaged by the hooks.

rlhe fulcrum brackets 15 may be used practically as efficiently with a one step hook, as indicated at 22 in Fig. 3, as witlrthe two step hook shown in Fig. 1. In many instances it will be foundV that the door has become warped or distorted in a manner such lthat whenthe doorlis raised by hand to closed position one side of the door will assume a-position permitting the hook on that ,side to fully engage the adjacent door arm.

In such a` case it will be seen that the lever and fulcrum may be utilized to force the other side of the door into fully closed-position. lf, on the other-hand, the-door'is'warped to such an extent that'neither of thesingle step hooks will supportingly `engage Athe door arms, the lever may be employed to ,sustain the door in a position corresponding to partially closed position, from lwhich posi- .tion the lever will, uporr being actuated, force the door to fully closed position as heretofore explained.

I claimt" l. In a'door-device for lrailway'cars,the combinationwith a hingedv door movable to open'position under the iniuence of gravity, Vcf a plurality `of arms carried by the door, the outer end of eachiof said armsbeing offset downwardly from the .door and projecting outwardlyl beyond i the edge thereof yremote from its 'hinge axis, independently :movable hooks carried by a "stationarypartV of: the car for respectively cooperating with saidV arms to support the door in closed'position, and a vplurality of means spaced-longitudinally of the car for cooperating with a removable lever forforcing the door to closedposition, each of said means involving a=bracket carried by a stationary part of the car and the outwardlyfprojecting ,end of one'of-said door arms, each of `said brakets loverlying the -outer face of the associated hook and being provided with'means constituting a pivotal support for the hook.

Y 2.In a railway car, the combination with a pivoted dump door having'itshinge axis disposed longitudinally of the car,1of a plurality of arms secured to the door and projecting outwardly beyond the car side, a plurality of independently pivoted hooks respectively cooperable with .saidv arms tomaintain the door in closed position, and brackets associated with each of said hooks having portions depending below the lower edgeof the side of the car and outwardly of the outer ends of said arms, each of-said portions being fashioned to receivea removable lever whereby a prying force may be applied to the outer end of the door armadjacent each of said hooks.

3. In a door mechanismrfor railwaycars,

the combination with a pivoted door having its hinge axis disposed longitudinally of the maintain the door in closed position, and

means carried by the car adjacent the end of each of said arms for receiving a removable lever adapted to cooperate with the projecting ends of said arms to force them into position to be engagedV by their associated hooks.

4C. In a door mechanism for railway cars, the combination with a pivoted doorhaving its hinge axis disposed longitudinally of the car, oit a plurality of devices spaced along the edge of the door remote from its hinge axis for supporting it in closed position, each of `said devices involving an arm-securedv to the door, a pivoted hook carried by a stationary part of thecar, and a bracket overlying the outer face of said hook and having means constituting a pivotal support therefor, and

means rigid with said bracket constituting a ulcrum for a remcvablerlever for prying the arm into position to be engaged by the hook,

said rigid means located outwardly of the end of said arm and disposed below the latter when the door is in closed position. 5. In a door mechanism for railway. cars, the combination with a hinged door,`of aplurality of devices spaced longitudinally of the i car iccr maintaining the door in closed position, each ci" said devices involving an arm carried by the door and projecting beyond the adjacent side of the car, a gravity actuated pivoted hook mounted on a stationary part of the car and engageable with said arm,

and a bracket overlying the outer face of theY hook, said brackethaving an oiiset portion provided adjacent its lower end with a-ledge K i adording a fulcrum for a removable leverfor forcing the door to closed position; j v6. In a door device forV railway cars, the combination with a car having a floor, and

a side sill extending below said floor, of. a

hinged door, and a. plurality ofmeans for supporting said door inclosed'position, each of said means involving an arin secured to the door having an offset end projecting outwardly beyond the side sill,a hook pivotally mounted on the side sill, and a bracket overdoor in said floor, an arm secured to said door and projecting beyond the side of the car beneath the side sill, a hook pivotally mounted on the side sill for engagement with the said arm to support the door in closed posi-k tion, a bracket securedv to said sill in overlapping relation to the outer face of the said hook, and meansintegral with said bracket constituting a fulcrum for a removable lever, said means being located outwardly of the outer end of the door arm and being arranged to permit the lever to engage with the latter andoperate` in a plane substantially normal to the car side to force the door to closed position. c j

8. In a railway car having a side and ceiiterV sill and provided with a floor disposed t yabove the lower edge of\the said side sill, the :combination with a door hinged in the floor, thehingeaxis of the door being adjacent the in closed position, and a fulcrurn arranged near each of said supporting members adapted to receive a pry bar whereby saidstiifen'- ing members may be `forced upwardly one at a time to be engaged by saidsupporting members to maintain the door in fully closed position, the lever being supported by each of said fulcrums insubstantial alinernent with the o'set end of the corresponding door arm. In testimony whereof I aii'ix my signature.

' 'BYERS W. KADEL.

lying the outer face of the :said hook, a par- Y tion of said bracket depending below the offset end of said arm `when the door isclosed and being provided'with means for accommodating a removable lever, the latter. VVbeing adapted to'bear against the offset end of the door arm to pry the doorto closed position.

7. In a door device for railway cars, the combination with a car having a Hoor-and a sidesill extending below saidloor,of ahinged 

